I am looking for some really quick and easy meal ideas. We love to cook but with both of us working, we just spend too much time in the evenings with the cooking and cleaning up. Last night, because we had people stopping by to look at our apartment (prospective tenants), I threw together a really quick meal: pan-fried crusted salmon (corn meal and Old Bay seasoning) with steamed (from frozen) veggies. And I thought, why can't every night be so easy???

The only easy meals that we seem to have in our repetoire are:

- some kind of fish, with breadcrumbs or cornmeal, mixed with herbs or spices
- veggie biriyani - I found a biriyani spice mix that I can throw into the rice cooker with some cut up veggies (fresh or frozen) or an almost instant meal
- salads are easy though sometimes too many ingredients to get together to make it into a meal

DH is not too fond of pasta, which was my go-to dish before we married, as I could make a quick sauce in the time it took to boil the pasta.

So what are some of your quick meal ideas? We don't eat beef, chicken or pork, so just fish or vegetarian meals.

Apparently doing it rong and ruining it for everyone, but I don't give a crap anymore.

I made black bean tacos yesterday that were really quick - I had cooked a bag of black beans earlier in the week, so those were on hand. I sauteed mushroom & onion w/olive oil, mushed in some black beans until hot, added s & p, warmed corn tortillas, put a bit of sour cream & baby spinach leaves on them and added the bean filling & some Frank's. They were pretty good

Broiled white fish (I often use Mahi Mahi). Put the fish in a broiling pan on top of thin lemon slices. Pour a bit of olive oil, lemon juice, s & p & garlic on top. I buy the frozen minced garlic from Trader Joe's which eliminates peeling & chopping. Broil until done (maybe 6-10 minutes depending on thickness). You could further dress this up with herbs & maybe white wine, but this is my most basic

Salmon with mustard. Season salmon with s&p. Make a mixture of dijon, olive oil & finely minced shallot (I use regular onion if I don't have shallot). Slather generously on the salmon. Broil until done.

We do egg sandwiches (over-hard egg with lettuce or spinach, maybe tomato or avocado if we've got it - on toast).

We do a lot with black beans (canned or leftover home-cooked) like black bean mexican pizzas (spread between 2 tortillas, put salsa, cheese, peppers onions black olives on top, bake about 15 minutes) - also nachos (the same, but with chips) or variations on these crispy tacos.

I just saute a shallot, add in a tomato and the (canned or precooked) beans, and some salt/pepper/cayenne to taste. Saute 5-10 minutes more. (No stock/water.) Works with any kind of bean but my LO seems to like pintos and cannellinis better than black.

Re: salads, what about prepping ingredients once or twice a week? Leftover cooked or smoked fish is great in salads, and of course there's cheese, eggs, chickpeas, etc. if protein is an issue...

Also, pad thai is pretty quick if you have ingredients prepped. It'll probably take longer the first time or two, but it's def. an under-30-minutes meals here. I looked at several recipes/directions, but this is my go-to now: http://chezpim.typepad.com/blogs/200...ai_for_be.html

Spekaing of pad thai, basic veggie stir fries (with or without added tofu/seafood) are pretty quick - again, veggie chopping is the most time-consuming piece, but pre-prep, buy pre-cut, or use a food processor if you have it and you've got a really quick meal.

Also in the Asian vein, Vietnamese noodle bowls. Mix up equal parts fish sauce and lime juice with 1/2 part oil (we use canola), lots of chopped onion and some red pepper flakes. You could add some garlic or a little fresh ginger if you're so inclined. Toss some fish/shrimp or sliced tofu in a bag with it to marinate. Grill or 'psuedo-grill' on the stove top; serve with vermicelli rice noodles (just soak in boiling water 5 min.), shredded (or not!) lettuce and carrot, mint, cilantro, fresh mung bean sprouts. We pout rice vinegar mixed w/ fish sauce over the top.

Sometimes, esp in the summer, we just do a 'cold plate' dinner - fresh fruit, veg, cheese, boiled eggs, bread or crackers, maybe some marinated tofu...